I'm new here, but I have been a longtime reader. I have decided to do a home haunt this year, now that I actually have a yard instead of an apartment stoop, so I am very excited. It has been a dream of mine ever since I was a kid.

I am planning a walk-through maze, and I have a question. What do you guys recommend: plywood panels (which are harder to store and expensive but sturdier), or garbage bag-like tarp (which is less sturdy, but easier to use and cheaper, too).

I'd love to hear your thoughts, and it's an honor to be apart of this board!

There have been a few discussions on here regarding that very thing. Search for the term "panel" which is what most people call them.

Someone posted a comment the other day about going the cheap way for a while and spending $1500 a year on stuff that didn't hold up and he had to throw away every year. I guess it depends on how long your haunt will be up and what type of weather you expect in October.

welcome to the site..I'm new on here also...this will be my 4th year of during a free house haunt..I did a app. 1000 sqft inclose haunt maze sorry no pic. did it with app 500 plus pallets ton of 2x4 and alot of plastic..Pallets were free from a local beer dist ..I double stack them then screw them together and ran 2x4 over to each side for support..then I ran whole sheets of plastic from the ground on one side up and over to the other ground then stable them.it was bad to the bone..only problem for the last 2 years it rain hard with strong wind....the pallets stood but the rain and wind was hard on the pastic and everything hand from inside..afterwards I found people who wanted the pallets for burning..BUT this year I will be making pernnated wall to keep ...I wasted too much money...good luck hope this help..Howard

I was also toying with the idea of PVC structures coverered with fabric/plastic, maybe even using some pool noodles for archways.

I'll be building this outside on my driveway into my garage, then out into my yard, so it will quite long and I need it to be sturdy, but I have no idea where I would store 500 or so panels when they aren't used to scare the crap out of people the other eleven months out of the year.

However, I would eventually like to expand to biggr and better, so maybe the investment would be worth it after all.

I started out in this business in my garage many years ago. Now I have turned into a pro haunter. This will be my 2nd year running a haunted house. For good walls. I used 4'x8' sheets of plywood. Build your outer frame using 2x4's and don't forget your center 2x4 for support.

My first few years of doing my home haunt I simply ran rope cross sections between the garage, porch, basketball hoop and then draped sturdy vinyl tarp over the ropes. The advantage is it was cheap and easy to store, but it took a lot of duct tape and staples. But it worked.

Now I am doing a haunted house for a local charity and I use scrap vinyl from an RV seat producer and 2x4 frames. Very light weight, can't be punched through and is very hard to slice even with a knife.